3 ms·
Just a few years ago, conservatives made a point of calling themselves "constitutional". Has that gone away, or is this another faction?
by bediger4000 1y ago
Just a few years ago, conservatives made a point of calling themselves "constitutional". Has that gone away, or is this another faction?
- krapp 1y agoTrumpism swept away the old guard conservatives for the most part, and they would still call themselves "constitutional," just with a radically different interpretation of the constitution. I think the techno-feudalists are trying to parasitize the Trump movement the way the Trumpists themselves did the conservative movement through Musk, DOGE and Palantir.
- jfengel 1y ago"Constitutional" always meant "my specific interpretation of the Constitution". That's part of what made it so easy for the old guards to be swept out and replaced by people with an even more self-serving interpretation.
- Jtsummers 1y agoA bit of both. The ones who said it and meant it were always a minority, the rest who said it were saying it because it let them fit in. Once power shifted, they switched their message because their position has always been about obtaining and retaining power, not about taking a stance. The power in a political party (in the US) is never really held by a principled faction of the party, it's bolstered by the unprincipled majority that see public support leaning one way or the other and choose a (somewhat) principled faction to throw themselves behind.